The Day in the Cave
by Stellarsong
Summary: The day that changed their lives forever.  From Azkadellia's POV.


_This is just my little attempt at a one-shot based on Tin Man. I only saw this movie recently and now rate it as one of my favorites. I hope you like it and leave a review before you go!_

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The Day In The Cave

The screaming. It reverberated against the hard, cold stone. High-pitched, desperate. Tearing from her throat in a final cry of anguish and utter terror. Azkadellia never imagined she would ever be so scared. Never knew that it _could_ happen. That it was happening to her and her alone because DG had let go and now it was just her. Her and the Witch and the horribly mutant mobats, their leathery wings beating the stale air, matted fur stinking of carrion.

They shrieked in oddly distorted monkey voices and as each one entered her body, her own screams joined them. She tried to close her eyes but couldn't. Couldn't look away from the terror before her, of the reptilian eyes of the Witch rooting her to the spot. Ragged talons bit into the flesh of her arms, holding her in a vice-like grip. The ugly face was inches in front of her own and that rotten breath assailed her and still she screamed.

Screamed as she fell, darkness overtaking her, the witch's mind infused in her own.

Screamed and fell…

Down and down into darkness, to night blacker than pitch, to oblivion…

…Then there were flowers. The sound of gently moving water. The golden light shed by the sun, it's rays distorted upon the rippling blue surface. Moving, always moving. And the breeze that swept up the grass and carried fluffy, white dandelion seeds and the scent of the water, clear and cool on that summer morning.

There was laughter.

High, laughing voices carried on the breeze, the laughter of children playing in the meadow.

"Can't catch me!" Azkadellia taunted, running through the grass of the fields.

Her younger sister, DG, wasn't far behind, almost tripping over her skirts in pursuit. While off at the shore of the lake, Lavender Eyes sat on a swing and watched and smiled. Lightly tapping the leather-bound cover of a closed book in her lap and humming a simple melody.

Azkadellia glanced off down the hill. That's where she would go next. The two girls could roll down the hill, all the way down until they reached the shore. It would be fun. Being princesses didn't mean they couldn't be silly.

She turned to tell DG when she saw that her sister was no longer chasing after her. She had stopped, staring at something protruding from the grass.

It was a flower. A small lily, it's petals white with little blue striations and deep green leaves that curled over themselves. There were several buds drooping from their stems but only one that had bloomed, a very new and very young flower.

DG bent down, extending her hand, small fingers caressing the flower then grasping the stem.

"Wait. Don't pick it," Azkadellia said, running to DG and sitting down beside her. "Let it grow. It'll soon have seeds and they'll spread out to the meadow," she explained. "And before you know it, this whole place will be filled with the most beautiful flowers."

DG pulled her hand back and smiled. "Really?"

Azkadellia smiled back. "Just wait and see. But until then, we mustn't pick it. We'll protect it, make sure it's safe. It can be your flower if you want."

"I'd like that," DG said. "Thanks, Az." She patted at the lily's soft petals. "Can we come back and visit it tomorrow?"

"Yes, we'll do that," said Azkadellia, getting to her feet. "Come on, I have a new game we can play."

DG stood, not bothering to brush the grass from her dress. Holding hands, the two sisters headed for the hill while Azkadellia explained her new game…

…Night had fallen. Not in the world for the day was still bright, the breeze swept at the grass, the scent of clear, cool water hung in the air, the field full of lilies danced and bobbed on their stems. But in Azkadellia's mind, it was night. A starless night in which the moon would never rise and the sun never take it's place.

She wept, barely noticing that there were no tears, that the pain and the shrieking of the mobats had stopped.

She was walking through the grass. Heading toward the gazebo. How she ever got there, she didn't know.

Lavender Eyes was sitting on the swing, cradling DG in her lap. DG was crying.

_DG!_ Azkadellia tried to shout.

_DG! DG! _mocked a cruel voice in her head.

_Who are you?_ the girl demanded.

_Who am I?_ said the voice. _I? I am you._

_No you're not! What are you and what's happened to DG? She's crying!_

_Boo-hoo! She's crying! She's crying! The little witch-girl is crying!_

_Stop that!_

_Stop that!_

In despair, on the verge of tears that would never come, Azkadellia again called out, _DG! DG! Please answer me!_

_Answer me! Answer me! DG, the weeping witch-girl!_

_STOP IT!_

"Azkadellia, are you alright?" Lavender Eyes asked, her expression concerned. DG sniffled, her eyes red from crying.

Azkadellia, her mind no longer her own, looked up. "Of coarse, mother. I've never felt better."

But inside, she was screaming.

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_Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!_


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